e U. S. Bureau of Fisheries._]

"Yearlings of both sexes and males from two years old to five," the
agent answered.

"Do they fast all summer, too, like the sea-catches?"

"No," was the reply. "No need for it. They go to sea every few days. If
the sun is out they stay in the sea. They make long journeys, too, just
as the mother seals have to do, because a seal needs at least thirty
pounds of fish a day to keep in good condition. All the nearby
fishing-grounds have been exhausted."

"I suppose the different colors show the different ages?" the boy
suggested.

"Exactly," the agent answered. "That's important, too. By law we are
only allowed to sell skins weighing between five and eight and a half
pounds. That means only those of males two and three years old. The skin
of a yearling weighs just about four pounds and that of a four-year-old
male eleven or twelve."

"How about the two-year-old cow seals? You said that only the yearlings
among the females were here."

"The cow seals never come twice to the hauling grounds," was the reply.
"They go for the first time to the rookeries in their second year."

"I should think it would be easy enough then to 'cut out' a herd," the
boy said. "I could pretty nearly do it myself."

"Obviously! Without any trouble!" was the reply. "But you've got to go
slow."

"Why?" the boy queried.

"If a seal is hurried he gets heated. You remember I told you how little
they can stand. If a seal is killed after being heated, fur comes off in
patches and the skin is of no value. Let's go on. I have to tally those
that are knocked down."

"I thought you were going to drive some!" said Colin in a disappointed
tone, as they turned away from the hauling-grounds along a well-beaten
road.

"The drive started three hours ago and more," was the reply. "Quarter of
a mile an hour is fast enough to make seals travel. You can drive as
fast as a mile an hour, but lots will be left on the road to die from
the exertion. Yet the same seals will swim hundreds of miles in a day."

"But what can you do, then, on a warm day? Do you drive during the
night?"

"No seals here on a warm day," was the immediate answer. "You saw all
those thousands of holluschickie on the hauling-grounds? If the sun
were to come out now, in half an hour there wouldn't be a seal on the
entire flat. All disappear into the sea. Absolutely!"

"What is that group over there?" asked Colin, pointing to a small
cluster a short d